ORLANDO, Fla. — Crime scene investigators testified Friday in the murder trial of a man accused of raping and killing a 27-year-old woman at her downtown Orlando apartment.
Police said Stephen Duxbury strangled Sasha Samsudean in October 2015 at the Uptown Place apartments after she returned from a night out.
Duxbury worked as a security guard at the apartment building at the time.
Jurors were shown physical evidence in the case, including a pair of Skechers sneakers prosecutors said Duxbury was wearing when he killed Samsudean.
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Police said Duxbury tried to pass off a different pair of shoes as the ones he had worn that night, but they said the sneakers match shoe prints found in her apartment.
Prosecutors also had a cellphone expert testify that Duxbury googled how to open Samsudean's unique front door lock before she died. The expert said Duxbury tried erasing his phone after the killing.
Duxbury told police he was never inside Samsudean's apartment.
Investigators said DNA evidence was discovered on Samsudean's body and her bedsheets, and Duxury's fingerprints were found on her toilet and her nightstand.
"It matched the left thumb of Mr. Duxbury," Latent Fingerprint Specialist Howard Kuehne testified.
Jurors were shown photos of every inch of Samsudean's apartment as well as the comforter with which her body was wrapped.
Jurors on Thursday heard testimony about cleaning products that were poured on and into Samsudean's body that broke down some of her skin, hiding evidence of other potential injuries. They were shown those chemicals on Friday as well as her bed sheets and an iPad.
Dr. Gary Utz, the Orange-Osceola County medical examiner said in court Thursday that Samsudean appeared she was beaten and had a fractured larynx. He said she was strangled.
"She's nearly naked in her bed," Utz said. "She's wrapped in a comforter. I'd be an idiot not to entertain the idea of sexual assault."
Utz said a necklace was torn from Samsudean's neck and a shirt was ripped from her body.
Investigators said surveillance footage shows Duxbury walking with an intoxicated Samsudean.
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Police officers who were called to the scene said Duxbury seemed nervous.
"I'm standing by myself, facing the door in the hallway," Orlando police Officer Kyle Medvetz said. "He walked by but he just stood and hovered like we were going to talk."
Duxbury's supervisor testified Thursday that Duxbury stayed almost 40 minutes past his shift the day of Samsudean's death, which he said was out of character.
Prosecutors said that Duxbury tried to dispose of evidence during that time.
His attorneys claim that investigators botched the case and that the true killer remains at large.
Duxbury faces life in prison if convicted in Samsudean’s death.
Cox Media Group
